Macadamia soup with curry leaf and crab

SERVES 4-6 // PREP TIME 15 MINS // COOK 1 MIN (PLUS SOAKING, CHILLING)

Curry leaves and roasted cumin seeds add warmth and depth to this lighter spin on ajo blanco, enriched with spanner crab. Start this recipe a day ahead to allow the flavours to come together.

800 gm raw macadamia nuts, soaked in cold water (4 hours)

½ garlic clove

½ tsp cumin seeds

8 fresh curry leaves, plus extra to serve

Extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

Lime juice and thinly sliced lime, to serve 360 gm picked spanner crab meat

1 Drain macadamia nuts and transfer to a blender. Add garlic and blend until finely chopped, gradually adding 1 litre water. Season well with salt, then strain through a sieve, using the back of a ladle to push all the macadamia milk through.

2 Meanwhile, dry-roast cumin until fragrant (10-20 seconds, see cook’s notes p152). Cool, then coarsely crush with a mortar and pestle. Add to macadamia milk with curry leaves and refrigerate overnight for flavours to combine.

3 To serve, season soup with lime juice, drizzle with oil, top with curry leaves, lime and crab meat, and season to taste.